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France¿s President Sarkozy denied during his visit to Dublin today that he had ever said Ireland would have to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

At a joint press conference with Taoiseach Brian Cowen at Government Buildings, the French President replied at length to a question as to whether he stood by his reported comment and if he now understood the
anger it had caused in this country.

¿I never said that Ireland had to organise a new referendum, I said that at some stage or another the Irish had to be given the opportunity to give their opinion,¿ Mr Sarkozy replied.

¿I never said there had to be a referendum,¿ he repeated. ¿I didn¿t say on what question there would be a vote and I did not in any way meddle in Irish domestic affairs.

¿There¿s no reason to be angry when you say to a people, to a nation, at some stage or another, on a given question that has yet to be determined and within a given time-frame you will have to be consulted.

¿In a democracy that¿s the very least one can do and if that makes you angry sir, it¿s that there is a lot of tension around, but there can be no tension between France and Ireland for a start because we are friends, because we have common interests.

¿To come to Ireland would be to meddle? Not to come, would be indifferent! What would you, the Irish press, rather? Meddling or indifference?

¿I think that to come shows a spirit of friendship, to show that there is a difficulty and perhaps I can help Brian out of it because this is precisely the difficulty that I was up against in my own country.

¿I don¿t claim to be right on everything, but I¿ve come as a friend to see a friendly nation, a friendly state with which we have common interests and we have to find and we will find a solution. We need time
but we¿re dealing with it,¿ he said.

Opening the press conference this afternoon, the Taoiseach said that ¿France and Ireland share excellent and close relations at government level¿. He added that his meeting with the President had been ¿a very good and
useful¿ one.

¿The main focus of our discussions was of course the situation which arises as a result of the vote on the Lisbon Treaty. The President has made clear that he has come here to listen and to gain a greater understanding of why we got the vote that we did.

¿I explained that we are now in a process of analysis and consultations, which we hope will lead us to a better understanding of the concerns underpinning the outcome of the referendum.

¿We believe that¿s essential if we are to work towards resolving the current difficulties in a way that is satisfactory to all 27 member-states. And of course I stressed that the vote of the people must be respected.¿